The game's main character is Fox McCloud, a young eighteen year old anthropomorphic fox who hails from the Lylat system. He is the leader of Team Star Fox, a band of pilot heroes who resist the mighty Emperor Andross's rule over the system. His group consists of Peppy Hare, an anthropomorphic rabbit, Slippy Toad, the Amphiboid (anthropomorphic toad), and Falco Lombardi, an anthropomorphic bird, respectively.

It is known as Star Wing in Europe, and its successor is Star Fox 64, known as Lylat Wars in Europe.

Contents

Story

In the peaceful Lylat system near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, a mixed group of beings live in harmony with each other. Three of the worlds in the system were industrialized and had great civilizations, and the other planets of the system provided numerous natural resources, until the self-appointed emperor Andross came into focus.

As a young boy, Andross excelled in all subjects. Before too long he became a Doctor, and then proceeded to work on an engine that utilized hyper-spatial energy in an advanced lab on the planet Corneria, one of the most populated worlds in the system. The ruling council of the planet warned him several times not to conduct experiments using this engine in Corneria's most populated city, but blinded by selfish ambition Andross continued to tinker with it.

Finally the ruling council banished Dr. Andross from Corneria, and he fled. Many Cornerians simply forgot all about him and went about their lives...until one day, a Cornerian defense force recorded strange activity occurring in the atmosphere and surrounding space of Venom, the first planet of the system. Before too long, the manic "Emporer" Andross declared full-out war against Corneria as revenge for his exile.

Andross enslaved a primitive lizard-like species he found dwelling on Venom and drafted them for his military. He polluted the planet with toxic waste, and developed the Telekinetic Amplifier in order to brainwash and control the lizard species. He set out on the system with thousands of warships and before long, he controlled every one save for Corneria. General Pepper of the Cornerian Army sent out a distress call to mercenary Fox McCloud of Team Star Fox to pilot the prototype Arwing attack fighter and attempt to beat back Andross's attack, and free the Lylatians from him forever.

Fox gets to the planet in the nick of time, and just barely manages to hop in his Arwing and complete basic training before Corneria is placed under siege by the frontward attack force sent by Andross to capture the planet. Scrambling from a Cornerian base, Fox McCloud, Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Falco Lombardi erupt from the hangar in time to destroy an enemy fighter, and the first winning shot in what became known as the Lylatian Conflict is fired.

Gameplay

Corneria in Star Fox.

The objective of the game is to start at Corneria and then go through one route (Route 1 for beginners, Route 2 for more skilled players and Route 3 for seasoned veterans of the game) and to eventually reach the planet Venom where Andross has holed himself up at. Along each route, there are sx levels apiece, all different.

This deviates the game from the normal space/flight sim mold in which the difficulty level is set by the player at an options screen, as each route corresponds to a difficulty level. This increases the game's replay value significantly by offering the chance to see and experience a new level on the higher difficulty routes instead of merely experiencing the same levels with more enemies, lower health, less time, etc.

Development

The game was released in the spring of 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and quickly became a phenomenon. Before it was even released, preorders exceeded 1.7 million copies. In order to keep up with the preorder demand Nintendo shipped a million game cartridges on the game's opening weekend, some dropped by parachute to stores such as Sears.

To promote the game, Nintendo created Star Fox themed kiosks which loosely resembled an Arwing and sent them to Sears stores. A TV with a VCR stood next to the kiosk, and if one sat in a chair inside the kiosk then it would rumble in response to the actions on-screen. Another game promotion was the Super Star Fox Weekends competition, in which specially rigged Star Fox game cartridges set to time themselves for four minutes were played. The objective of the competition was to get the highest score by shooting down the most enemies within the time limit. Prizes included a free trip to one of 4 locations around the globe, along with flight pins, flights jackets and other assorted winnings.

Dylan Cuthbert, the creator of the game, said that Star Fox was his favorite game to work on. [1]

Star Fox 2

A planned sequel, Star Fox 2, was planned and in fact completed but never released to the public. ROMs of the game in its prototype form have been leaked to the internet, though, and several of the concepts in the sequel made it into Star Fox 64. Some of these include All-range mode and the rival Star Wolf team. A good amount of leftovers from the project were used in Star Fox Command.

Canon

As of recent interviews, the original Star Fox's place in the Star Fox Continuity have been loose. Miyomoto stated he saw Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars as a reboot, tough Argonauts states it still counts. The Nintendo of Japan website said that Star Fox and 64 were the two sides of the same coin, and in Star Fox 64, it states the Star Fox team must save Lylat again. In all conclusion, Star Fox's continuity is left in limbo, until Nintendo states which is true.